A variety of hand-held, manually operated dispensers are known for selectively dispensing thick, flowable viscous materials, such as paste-like extrudable materials in the form of gels, foams, adhesives, and the like. One area in which dispensers of the present disclosure have particular application is the food industry where pre-packaged charges of viscous food products, such as cheese, whipped topping, icing, and food condiments, are to be dispensed.
Many of these food product dispensers include a housing or body for replaceably receiving a flexible package of a food product to be dispensed. The dispenser typically has a dispensing end and a piston slideably mounted within the body. Dispensers of this type usually include a handle having a pivotably mounted trigger which is squeezed by a user to activate a piston advancing arrangement. Such piston advancing arrangement commonly includes an elongated rod that is advanced by a pawl mechanism linking the rod and the piston. One portion of the rod is adapted for contact with the piston and propels the piston as the user manipulates the trigger. As the piston is advanced, the food product is dispensed from the dispensing end.
To refill the dispenser with a new flexible package, the dispenser is disassembled and the new flexible package is inserted. While refilling the dispenser, residual food product at the dispensing end may spill out or be cleaned from the dispensing end. Accordingly, the residual food product is lost thereby increasing costs and refill frequency.
There remains a need for a dispenser that efficiently dispenses the food product such that little or no residual food product is lost or wasted when the dispenser is refilled. Through research and experimentation, the present inventors have developed the dispensers of the present disclosure that increase efficiency and reduce or eliminate the amount of residual food product that is lost when refilling the dispenser.